Month: June 2016

Kohlrabi is a member of the brassica family, and is also known as the German cabbage or the turnip cabbage. They are an annual vegetable, and are edible cooked or raw. Kohlrabi boasts many health benefits and is a rich source of vitamin C.

This year was my first year of growing Kohlrabi, in fact I hadnt even tasted it before, but last year one half of Growblogs was blessed with a beautiful baby girl called Olivia, and the other half became a proud uncle. While strolling through Mr. Fothergill’s fantastic seed catalog I noticed the Kohl Rabi Olivia F1 and knew we had to give it a go. So far this year it has definitely been our first success story, so much in fact I already have another batch started in a different bed.

Kohlrabi Seedlings

We started off our kohlrabi seedlings indoor on a sunny ledge in a mini indoor greenhouse. The seeds were sown two at at time into individual sets, with the weaker of the two being pricked out, usually anywhere between 1 and 3 weeks after sowing, depending on conditions. When the seedlings have established a good strong root system, and making sure that if they were started off growing indoors, that they are properly hardened off and aclimatised to their future outdoor final positions.

It’s possible for them to be started, between February and Mar indoors and May and July outdoors. If planting directly into the ground outdoors, sow roughly 1/2” deep in rows, and when fully established, should be thinned out to roughly 6” to 8” between plants to allow for mature growth.

Like most members of the cabbage family, kohlrabi are susceptible to cabbage root fly attacking the base of the young plants. This is why we provide each of the individual plants with plastic collars and their very own pet stone, for company.

Kohlrabi Juvenile plants

Olivia F1 is a fast growing, disease resistant beautiful looking plant, and has a sweet flavor and crispy flesh. Making it the perfect accompaniment to any BBQ in the form of my extra awesome Kohlrabi coleslaw.

So here goes it folks my first recipe. Im no food writer, in fact im no any writer and I think thats pretty obvious, but whilst I may not know my way around Microsoft word, one place I certainley feel at home is in the kitchen.

Food processors are coleslaw fans best friends, making a tedious task, done in seconds allowing more time to get the combos of amounts and seasonings correct, it is possible to prepare the veg with a good sharp knife or a mandolin but who is going to risk their pinky tips when the whizzer (food processor) will do it better and quicker… so heres what you need

1 kohlrabi (skinned)

1 large or 2 medium carrots

1 red onion

½ cabbage either white or red (the red makes it look dead fancy)

cider vinegar

mayonnaise

½ an orange

wholegrain musdtard

salt and pepper to season to taste

Remove stalks and skin of the onion,kohlrabi and cabbage,peel the carrots and plug in the food processor. Slice the kohlrabi and cabbage and grate the onion and carrots to provide different textures. Once everything is cut, put into a big bowl and give it a good mix up and add enough mayonnaise and mustard to provide a generous but not over powering amount. Mix in 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar and the juice of half an orange. Add salt and pepper to taste.. et voila.

Kohlrabi Coleslaw

So simply and so delicious and when your getting quizzed on the ingredients it gives you a great excuse to get your phone out and show off photos of your own Kohlrabi patch.

If you have any great kohlrabi recipes please drop us a message as we would love to make the most of this great vegetable.

Hello growfans, you may have noticed that we havnt blogged in a long time, truth be told we have both been very busy. We havnt neglected the plot tho. While I sat in France during some of their worst flooding in recent times, back home in Belfast from what ive heard,and from a few dodgy looking tan lines, I believe it was almost tropical. Everything started to grow massively, espically the weeds and you know what they say “1 week away, takes two weeks to catch up” in fact I dont know if people say that, its just how long it took me, so you heard it first here folks.

Just these last few days have we started to sample the goodness from all the hard work with, out first harvests of broad beans, and kohlrabi. Im going to do as separate blog about the kohlrabi, as I was experimenting and made a slaw I was particularly pleased with.

The potatoes must have grown about 1 foot in a week, and are now far too tall and starting to fallover in places. The first earlies look strongest, and fingers cross some of the growth had been used underground growing some fat tubers. They have just flowered so roughly 3 weeks from now they will be ready to eat.

When the potatoes are fully dug up and devoured, ive decided to use the space for growing fruit, and im putting in some canes, of variety’s that work well with alcohol, sloe berries, gooseberries and one im particularly looking forward too, one all Ikea shoppers will know, Lingon berries.

The strawberries are starting to ripen, and I will be putting down a layer of hay soon, to stop the heavy strawberries rotting on the damp ground, and helping to protect them from pests.

The legumes bed is growing strongly with all the peas and beans growing nicely. I also have a few quick cropping salad vegetables growing in this same bed. Firstly butterhead lettuce and pak choi. As I thin out the seedlings im potting them up to plug any gaps or to simply fill up space and maximise my yield. These also made great little gifts as they will grow enough to eat in the small pots they are in, or are easily transplanted into a flower bed.

We realise that the blog was unavailable for a period of time and for this we apologise, we will be working hard on the technical aspects of the blog, including how it shows on android and ios devices.

Lets hope we get back to the good weather soon, and I can top up my farmers tan, and watch my dinner grow.

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